stenbebach



(No Model.)

'3 Shee.ts-Sheet 1. G. F. P. STENDEBAGH.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

Patented Apr. 14, 1896.

AN DREW B.GRA|1AM. PHOTO-UTHO.WASHI NGTO'L D c (No Model.) 3Sheets-Sinai: 2.

O.F.QP.STENDEBAGVH. ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

No. 558,322. Pate n tedApr. 14, 1896.

IZIIIIIEI ANnHEW EGRAUAM. PNOTO-U'MQWASNINGTDKD C m NJ a k H 3Sheets-Sheet 3.

Patented Apr. 14, 1896.

(No Model.)

G. P. P. STENDEBAGH. ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

M M. F w

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CARL FRIEDRICH PHILIPP STENDEBACH, OF LEIPSIO, GERMANY.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 558,322, dated April14, 1896. Application filed March 7,1895. Serial No. 540,869. (N model.)

To 6055 whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CARL FRIEDRICH PHILIP]? STENDEBACH, ofLeipsic-Plagwitz,

in the Kingdom of Saxony, Germany, have i11- point where the car issupported and is conveyed to the motor bythe contact-wheels. From thesecontact-wheels the current goes to the running-wheels of the car andthence back through the rails to the motor.

The main advantage connected with my construction is that at thecontact-point where the circuit is closed there is no complicatedmechanism Whatever,while the parts are properly protected againstmoisture and external influences by being inclosed within a casing.Moreover, the movable circuit-closers have no stuffing-boxes, and accessof water to the contacts is absolutely prevented by a mercury seal.

My improved system can be constructed at a reduced cost, as it requiresno expensive insulating-subways; and it consists of the followinggeneral arrangement:

In the middle or at the side of the track .there is placed between twoproperly arranged guard-rails a so-called contact-rail. Under the endsof the contact-rail the novel contact apparati are placed, so that thecircuit is closed by the contact-pressure rollers of the moving car andheld closed until the car has left the section and reached the nextsection of the road.

The contact-point proper is in the apparatus inclosed within a specialVertically-movable iron cylinder protected against all eX- ternalinfluences and dipping with its lower open end into a mercury seal.

The operation of my improved electric railway and the cooperation of thecontact-apparati cars and conductors are apparent from the accompanyingdrawings, in which- Figure 1 is a vertical section of the contactdevice, showing it open. Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the upperpart thereof. Fig.

Fig. 5 is a vertical section through a modification, showing the contactopen; Fig. 6, a similar section through the upper part thereof with thecontact closed; Fig. 7, a horizontal section on line S S Fig. 6. Fig. 8is a vertical section of one form of the guard-rail and thecontact-slide with its insulator; Fig. 9, a plan of the contactslide;Fig. 10, a side View of the contact-slide, showing its cooperation withthe apparatus, which is shown in section; Fig. 11, a longitudinalsection of the spring-contact g; Fig. 12, a plan thereof; Fig. 13, asection on line a a Fig. 11; Fig. 14, a plan of the head h, showing itin theform of a one-armed lever; Fig. 15, a side V1611, and Fig. 16 afront View, thereof; Fig. 17, a longitudinal section through the valvev; Fig. 18, a crosssection through the guard-rails, the contactrail, andone track-rail; Fig. 19, a vertical section, partly in side view, of theapparatus, showing it in operative position; and Fig. 20 a plan Viewthereof, showing the general plant.

The rails L of the road proper are laid in the customary manner. Betweenthe rails lies, in the middle of the track or at the side thereof, theso-called contact-rail S, which is protected against injury from wagons,&c. by two guard-rails (see Figs. 18, 19, and 20) placed upon the woodenties H.

The contact-rail is U-shaped in cross-section and approaches the innersharp edges of the guard-rail within about ten millimeters, Fig. 18, sothat no dirt, stones, &c., can accumulate between the contact-rails andthe guard-rails, and so that a cleaning from the street may be easilyefiected.

The sharp edges 0 o of the contact-rail and the sharp edges p p of theguard-rails, Fig. 18, have for their object to present a minimum surfaceto the snow, so that the strength of the current is not impaired bymoisture. The contact-rails are secured in position between theguard-rails by means of porcelain insulators J, Fig. 8, and at the endthe contact-rails are supported by the porcelain blocks J, Fig. 19. Theinsulators J are supported by the bolts S, that also serve to hold theguard-rails at the proper distance from each other, Fig. 18.

The entire arrangement lies on the streetlevel. The contact-rail S isdivided into sections, Fig. 19, in such a manner that a car traversingthe sections will touch a new section before it leaves the old one. Tothe sepa rate sections the current is led by means of theelectromagnetic contact apparati, which are located directlybeneath thecontact-rails, the current being conducted to any one sec tion only aslong as the car is propelled over such section.

The current is fed to the contact devices from an underground cable K,which is properly insulated and is made of proper cross section, Fig.19.

The contact devices are constructed and operated as follows:

The apparatus consists of a case A, made of soft cast-iron, which ismounted at its base by means of an insulating-packing (tarboard) uponthe underlying iron plate B. The latter is in turn with itsinsulating-packing fastened to the underlying masonry C. At its upperend the case A is closed by the cover I), secured in place by means ofbrass screws. Above the apparatus the contact and guard rails aremounted either directly or upon a casting T, Figs. 5 and 6, that isprovided with the insulating-layer Z and bridges the apparatus. \Viththe latter construction the contact-slide E is provided with the sleeveE, that passes through the insulator I, and is composed at its lower endof two connected and removable halves, which are provided with aninterveninginsulator and are screwed to the cover D, Figs. 5 and 6.

Another construction of the contact-slide E is illustrated in Figs. 8,9, and 10. Here the slide is connected to the casting T by means of theintermediate hollow plates U and a n umber of porcelain insulators J.The contact-slide itself is provided at its sides with integralguard-plates e, that form a right and left trough or longitudinalchannel within the body of the slide. These channels prevent snow andwater from entering between the contact-slide E and the guard-rail. (SeeFigs. 8, 9, and 10.) The water that may enter at this point from thestreet will flow along the channels of the slide and thus reach theexcavations that contain the contact apparati, from which it is drainnedin suitable maner. In this construction the contact-slide E should beprovided with an oval aperture into which projects the insulated sleeveE, which is screwed to the apparatus, Fig. 10.

The conduetin g connection between slide E and sleeve E is effected bymeans of a leadwire 3 as shown in Fig. 19. At the point where the sleeveE is screwed to the cover D the latter is provided with a socket, whichis filled with asphalt, so as to prevent the water that flows over theapparatus from forming a connection between the sleeve E and the earth,Fig. 10. The loose connection between slide and apparatus has for itsobject to permit any suitable inclination of the former, while thelatter may always be mounted in a vertical position.

The section K of cable K is led insulated through the bottom of the caseA, and is clenched by means of the nuts M M, above which it is providedwith a water-tight packing of leather and metal washers, Fig. 1. Abovethe nuts M the cable is surrounded by a metal covering 122, which servesto impart greater stability to it.

The cable K extends to about the center of the case and carries at itsupper end the quicksilver contact G, Figs. 5 and (3, or thespring-contact G, Figs. 10, 11, 12, and 13. The contact G or G is inturn surrounded by the conical wrought'iron cylinder F, which reachesnearly to the bottom of the vessel. At its upper end, facing the coverof the apparatus, the cylinder F is closed by a disk, through whichprojects the insulated contactpoint II, which is fastened to said disk.The point ll extends through the center of the cover D and through abrass guide-piece d, which is insulated from and screwed into the cover.Thence the point 11 enters the bore of the contact-slide E andterminates in a head 72, that is free to move vertically in acorresponding slit of the contact-slide E. The head 71 and consequentlythe cylinder F, con' nected to the contact-point II, is supported by aspring f, Fig. 2, which is located beneath the head. Vithin the case Athe iron cylinder F has a second support, which is formed by fourdiametrically-arranged noses 7), Figs. 1 and l.

At its open lower end the cylinder F dips into a mercury seal Q, Fig. 1,for twenty to thirty millimeters similar to a divers bell, whichprotects it hermetically against all the influences of moisture, while athinrubber disk N at the top of the cylinder serves at the same time asa packing between the case A and the cover D. Above this packing arearranged one or more outlets in the form of a downwardly-curved pipe V,Fig. 1, which at one end is screwed directlyinto the cover and at itsother end is provided with a reliefvalvc 'v,Fi g. 17 This valve willopen by the pressure of the water that may be collected in the pipe V,while it closes by spring f against any water that may attempt to enterfrom without,Fig. 17. Thus during flooding of the track water cannotpenetrate into the apparatus.

The hollow space of the case A contains a compound winding R in such amanner that a coil of fine wire in shunt with the contactslide E and thereturn-conductor L is wound upon the case A with a resistancecorresponding to the working potential. The winding is connected at itsbeginning with the contact-slide E and at its end with thereturnconductor or track-rail, and is inclosed watertight where itpasses through the outer case P. The outer case P is composed of softcast-iron and serves to protect the winding against external influences.

Upon the above-described wiclewinding is placed the main-currentwinding, which allows only a current of such intensity to pass as isnecessary to move the car. This coil connects with the cable K,encircles the case the same as the wick-winding, and is conductedthrough the case P to the contact G or G.

The shunt-circuit is so calculated that with an empty car on a levelstretch it exercises three-fourths of the magnetizing power which isnecessary to draw the iron cylinder F, counter-infiuenced by spring f,into or retain it within the hollow of the case, while the rest of thismagnetizing power is to be taken from the main-current winding. If thecar has not yet touched the contact point or bolt H or its projectinghead it, no current at all circulates in the shunt-circuit, becausethere is no difference of potential between contact-slide E and thereturn-rail L. Only on the closing of the contact G or the depression ofhead h or h by the contact pressure-wheels r of the car do thecontact-slide E and the metallically-connected rails S become positivelyelectrified. Thus the shunt-circuit will at once begin to work, andwill, in conjunction with the main current, hold the iron cylinder Fdown until the car has passed the section. As in this case themain-current winding becomes immediately currentless, the shunt-circuitis not able alone to resist the spring f working against it, and thisresults in the breaking of the contact and the consequent interruptionof the entire current flow to this section.

As shown in Figs. 9 and 10, the contactpoint H may be loosely arrangedwith relation to the head h. In this case the head h may be made in theform of a one-armed lever pivotally connected to the contact-slide E.

The spring f may, within certain limits, be made of suitable tension, asthe breaking of the contacts is efiected independently of such spring bya spiral spring f inclosed by sleeve E. This spring has only tocounteract the weight of the cylinder F and the resistance of theshunt-circuit, while no frictional resistance, owing to dirt or dustaccumulating between head h and slide E, which would cause an unevenworking of the spring f, is to be overcome. Thus an easy and uniformoperation during the opening or closing of the circuit is effected.

In Figs. 5, 6, and 10 the case A is provided with a brass center A, bywhich the induced action of the compound Winding upon the cylinder F isconsiderably increased. This result is obtained because the magneticcurrent is compelled to pass almost entirely through the iron cylinder,from the bottom toward the top, and to close through the outer case P,whereby the iron part of the case A may be regarded as a field-magnet.Bythis arrangement the dimensions of the apparatus may be considerablyreduced and its cost diminished.

What I claim is 1. An electric railroad with underground conductor,composed of a pair of guard-rails, a contact-rail, a case A, cover D,inner cylinder 1?, a mercury seal at the bottom of such cylinder, aninsulated contact-pin H, and a contact G within the cylinder, all beingso constructed that contact is made between the underground conductorand the contact-rail by a depression of the latter, substantially asspecified.

2. An electric railroad with underground conductor, composed of a pairof guard-rails, a contact-rail, a slide E, cases A, P, cover D, an innercylinder F, a mercury seal at the bottom of such cylinder, a disk N, atthe top of the cylinder, an insulated contact-pin H, a compound windingR, and a contact G, within the cylinder, substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

CARL FRIEDRICH PHILIPP STENDEBACH.

